An Exercise in Perceptions of Skin Tone: Are Subjective Measures of Skin Tone Systematically Related to the Outcomes?

Abstract

While the vast majority of research focuses on differences in economic outcomes across races, recent research has also considered disparities within racial groups. Intra-racial discrimination or colorism is defined as a bias between members of the same racial group. One challenge in teaching classes involving discrimination is to get students to understand how discrimination can be very subtle and that the students themselves may discriminate based on skin color. This paper discusses the design and application of an experiment designed to assess whether students assess skin color based on outcomes.